A powerful earthquake off Russia’s east coast triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific, prompting alerts in Hawaii and California.

Hawaii officials say the timing of the tsunami warning and evacuation orders following this week's massive earthquake off Russia helped make for severe traffic congestion in some areas

A tsunami has hit coastal areas of Russia’s Kuril Islands and Japan’s large northern island of Hokkaido after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake early on Wednesday. Tsunami warning sirens sounded in Honolulu, Hawaii, where people were told to move to higher ground.